1949 Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
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Simply wow! I seldom get to taste 40s Bordeaux, let alone 40s Latour, but what a wine. A thrill from the initial sniff and sip. Without hesitation, the wine delivered tobacco leaf, cigar box, mint, cedar, fennel seed, smoke, currants, and cherries in the heady perfume. On the palate, the thrills continued with layers of iron-crusted, red berries leaves, cigar box, and spice. Long, vibrant, and intense, the wine blends its wild side with stately refinement, along with a touch of orange rind in the lengthy leafy finish. Drink from 2023-2040. 1,694 Views Tasted Sep 1, 2023You never know how wines of this age are going to show, but this was a thrill-a-sip bottle! It took only one sniff and the initial sip to know this was a treat. The currants were sweet, ripe, vibrant, and fresh. There was length, refinement, elegance, and class here from start to finish. Long and complex, at close to 75 years, with more gas left in the tank, this is a perfect example of the ability to age in Latour. Drink from 2023-2030. 2,548 Views Tasted Jul 4, 2023The best bottle of 1949 Latour I have ever tasted! It took about 30 minutes before some of the initial stern character morphed into a regal, classic, Pauillac with a heavy dose of cedar, some pyrazines, tobacco leaf, ash, earth and cherry. Full bodied with depth, this almost 70-year-old Latour was a treat. 5,063 Views Tasted Sep 10, 2018With a light ruby, tea color, spice, soy, grilled beef, cassis and cedar kicked off the perfume. Slightly tart on finish with a dollop of cherry and cassis. 4,579 Views Tasted Jun 21, 2007Cedar, truffles, grilled red berries and smoke in the perfume. Perhaps a touch of VA. Blackberries and a touch of tartness marred the delicate finish. Slightly acidic. 4,723 Views Tasted Jun 21, 2007Truffle, tobacco, earth, cassis, Asian spice kicked off the perfume. But the wine did not develop well in the glass. It lost fruit, weight and balance while gaining in acidity and tart flavors after 20 minutes in the glass. The wine showed best during its first 15 minutes. 4,570 Views Tasted Apr 25, 2006 |
When to Drink Chateau Latour, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Latour is not a wine to drink on the young side. The wine is usually far too tannic, powerful and reserved during its youth. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 3-6 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
Chateau Latour is usually better with at least 15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Latour offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 18 and 60 years of age after the vintage.
Serving Chateau Latour with Wine and Food Pairings
Chateau Latour is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Latour is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes. Chateau Latour is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms and pasta.
In 2011, Chateau Latour added to their holdings in Pauillac when they purchased the 4-hectare vineyard of Chateau La Becasse from the Fonteneau family. The vines are used for the production of Forts de Latour.
Chateau Latour became one of the first major Bordeaux chateaus to embrace anti-counterfeiting measures with the use of the Prooftag system which is in place on the label, bottle and capsule of all future and current releases.
In 2015, Chateau Latour completed renovations which included new offices, tasting rooms and cellars. In fact, Chateau Latour became the first estate in the Medoc to maintain a cellar solely devoted to keeping magnums and other large-format bottling's dating back to 1900. The new cellars were a necessity as they allowed Latour to retain vast stocks of wines, for later releases.
The Pinault family also own other wineries through their holding company the Artemis Group. In Burgundy, they own Domaine d’Eugenie, previously known as Domaine Rene Engel. The vines are located in the Vosne Romanee appellation in the Cote de Nuits. Late 2017, marked another addition to their holdings in Burgundy when they purchased Clos de Tart for a record-setting price of more than 30 Million Euros per hectare!
In the Northern Rhone Valley, they own Chateau Grillet, which prior to their recent sale had been owned by the same family since 1830!
In July 2013, the family added to their list of vineyards with the purchase of Araujo Estate wines, in the Napa Valley. Araujo has since been renamed Eisele Vineyards. The following year, in 2014, The Artemis Group made their first purchase in the Right Bank, when they invested in Chateau Vray Croix de Gay, Pomerol, Chateau Siaurac, which is located in the Lalande de Pomerol appellation and Chateau Le Prieure in St. Emilion. They sold all their Right Bank vineyards, September 2020 to Suravenir Insurance, the owner of Chateau Calon Segur.